Means of drawing truly random samples from populations of trees distributed non-randomly in a plane are practically unknown. Only the technique of numbering all items and drawing from a list is commonly suggested. Two other techniques are developed, reducing plot size and selecting from a cluster with probability (1/M) where M is larger than the cluster size. The exact bias from some other selection schemes is shown by the construction of "preference maps". Methods of weighting the selection by tree height, diameter, basal area, gross volume, vertical cross-sectional area and combinations of diameter and basal area are described. None of them require actual measurement of the tree parameters. Mechanical devices and field techniques are described which simplify field application. The use of projected angles, such as are used in Variable Plot Sampling is central to most of these methods. Critical Height Sampling Theory is developed as a generalization of Variable Plot Sampling. The field problem is simply to measure the height to where a sighted tree is "borderline" with a relaskop. The average sum of these "critical heights" at a point multiplied by the Basal Area Factor of a prism gives a direct estimate of stand volume without the aid of volume tables or tree measurements. Approximation techniques which have the geometrical effect of changing the expanded tree shape are described. The statistical advantages of using the system were not found to be large, and the problems of measuring the critical height on nearby trees was severe. In general use there appears to be no advantage over standard techniques of Variable Plot Sampling, however in situations where no volume tables exist it may have application, and the problem of steep measurements angles to nearby trees can be overcome by using an optical caliper. The system can also overcome the problem of "ongrowth" for permanent sample plots. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

"The purpose of this paper is to present two methods for proving that a statistical estimate is admissible and minimax. The Bayes method was introduced by Wald, and Theorems 2.2 and 2.3 illustrate the technique. The second way is due to Hodges and Lehmann and is based on a lower bound for the variance of an estimate. In Theorem 3.2 the Hodges-Lehmann method for proving admissibility is given. The last chapter is devoted to an extension of the Hodges and Lehmann technique to the Bhattacharyya bounds"--Introduction. / "August, 1954." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: A. V. Fend, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45).

The evaluation of archaeological sites is an essential, routine, and commonplace part of archaeological practice. Evaluation is usually a preliminary step carried out prior to a decision about preservation, destruction, or more intensive investigation. In most cases, archaeologists sample sites when conducting evaluations, often to reduce the cost of the research, but also to minimize the adverse effects to sites that may be significant. The literature on sampling in archaeology, with a few noteworthy exceptions, does not address critical issues concerning how much to sample to achieve a valid and reliable evaluation of a site, or, alternatively, how much material must be recovered for that same purpose. This thesis studies the spatial and numerical distributions of ceramic material recovered from three prehistoric archaeological sites that have undergone several phases of intensive testing to understand the variables that influence effective sample sizes for evaluation. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) are one of Mississippi’s most profitable agricultural crops. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginiaus) damage soybean every year due to the plant’s high palatability, digestibility and nutritional content. I estimated the amount of damage (browsing and loss of yield) caused by deer within 5 soybean fields in eastern Mississippi and compared damage to the number of deer using each field during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons. I assessed the effectiveness of the chemical repellent Hinder on soybean. While deer did affect soybean height, soybean yield remained unaffected during both years of my study. Given the results of this study, the perception of deer damage may be greater than the physical damage and other environmental factors such as field margin effects may be the reason for spatial variations in soybean yield throughout fields. Hinder also improved soybean height and decreased deer damage but soybean yield remained unchanged.

<p> This thesis is concerned with the properties of sequential binomial estimation. It illustrates the construction of optimal sequential binomial sampling plans for point estimation problems in which, according to custom, each loss function is taken to be a constant times the square of the error. The way such a constant affects the sizes of the constructed sampling plans is also within the scope of this thesis.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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